The present invention provides a mesoporous material comprising at least one region of mesoporous material patterned at a lithographic scale. The present invention also provides a method for forming a patterned mesoporous material comprising: coating a sol on a substrate to form a film, the sol comprising: at least one photoactivator generator, at least one material capable of being sol-gel processed; and exposing the film to light to form a patterned mesoporous material.